5. Major Signs

The Major Signs of the Day of Judgment

There are ten major signs of the Day of Judgment. The minor signs occur over a period of centuries; the first of them was the coming of Prophet ﷺ. The major signs are very close to the Day of Judgment itself. Whenever one of them happens, the rest are going to follow very soon. The minor signs can be decades apart.

Prophet ﷺ says, “The major signs are deeds in a string. When the string is cut, all of them would fall down.” [Ahmad] If you have beads on a string and you cut the string, all of the beads would fall.

What are the ten signs? This hadith is in Muslim. These signs are not in chronological order.

Hudhaifa ibn Usaid Ghifari reported: Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: “What do you discuss about?” They (the Companions) said, “We are discussing about the Last Hour.” Thereupon he said:

“It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and land-slidings [earthquakes or earth slidings] in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly [the land of mahshar].” [Muslim 41, 6931]

There’s a hadith that says that the first sign is the rise of the sun from the west. The scholars still say that ad-Dajjaal is the first. How can they say this if there is a hadith? They say that there are signs of the Day of Judgment that relate to changes in the universe, and the first from these signs is the rise of the sun from the west.

The rising of the sun from the west is a cosmological change. The other signs – ad-Dajjaal, the smoke, the beast – are things happening on the earth.

1. Ad-Dajjaal

Linguistic Meaning : We’ll just talk about the meaning of ad-Dajjaal first. His name is al-Maseeh ad-Dajjaal. It is a name made out of two words: Al-Maseeh and Ad-Dajjaal.

One of the scholars says the word al-Maseeh can have 50 meanings. It is a word rich in meaning.

  • Some of the meanings of al-Maseeh are something that is wiped out. Ad-Dajjaal is called al-Maseeh because one of his eyes is wiped out – there’s no eye.
  • Maseeh could mean someone who travels all over the earth. Prophet ﷺ says that ad-Dajjaal would travel all over the world in 40 days.
  •    Interestingly enough, the world Al-Maseeh could have two opposite meanings: as-Siddeeq (the truthful) and Al-Khadhaab (the liar). The Arabic language is like that – it can have one word that can have two opposite meanings. The word Adam has two meanings as well – one of them is the original and the other came later. The original meaning is dark and the other meaning is something that is fair. Adam can be used to describe someone who is dark-skinned, and it can be used to describe someone who is fair-skinned. When it is used to describe Adam ‘alayhis salaam, it is being used to describe a dark-skinned person. When it used to describe ‘Eesa, it means fair-skinned. So Al-Maseeh means truthful and liar. Allah subhaana wa ta’aala has created two Maseehs – one is Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal and the other is Al-Maseeh ‘Eesa ibn Maryam. ‘Eesa ibn Maryam is the truthful messiah and the ad-dajjaal is the liar messiah.
  • Al-Maseeh means anointed (and this would apply to ‘Eesa ibn Maryam ‘alayhis salaam).

Now we are going to take a look at the word Ad-dajjaal.

  • There are some words in Arabic that described something physical, and then they started picking up other connotations and meanings. Dajalal Baleegh means painting the colour of the camel with qataraan. Qataraan is a dye; black paint. For some reason, some of the Arabs used to die the camel with that color. Allahu ‘Alam why – to heal it or something. The camel would become coloured; therefore it is concealing something – the colour of it. And that meaning applies to ad-dajjaal because he is not telling the truth. He is covering up something.
  • When you use the word as dajjalal hadeet, for example, it means coating something with gold. When you coat something with gold, it’s called dajjal. Those watches that are electroplated, for example. If something is cheap and then you coat it with gold, that is called dajjal. So it looks like gold – beautiful from the outside – but inside it’s nothing. That is ad-dajjaal. He’s showing one thing, but in reality he’s evil. He’s claiming that he’s God. He is claiming that he is bringing peace to the world, but he’s evil. He is a disbeliever.
  •  It also means deception, lying, imposter, etc. All of these meanings apply to ad-dajjaal.

1.1 Physical Description

Narrated ibn ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu: Once Allah’s Apostle stood amongst the people, glorified and praised Allah as He deserved and then mentioned the Dajjal saying, “l warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him. No doubt, Noah warned his nation against him but I tell you about him something of which no prophet told his nation before me. You should know that he is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed.” [Bukhari, 4/55/553]

Prophet ﷺ says that there is no fitna, from the creation of Adam until the day of judgement that is greater than the trial and the tribulation of ad-dajjaal.

Narrated ‘Ubadah ibn As-Samit: The Prophet ﷺ said: “I have told you so much about the Dajjal (Antichrist) that I am afraid you may not understand. The Antichrist is short, hen-toed, woolly-haired, one-eyed, an eye-sightless, and neither protruding nor deep-seated. If you are confused about him, know that your Lord is not one-eyed.” [Abu Dawood, B.37, #4306]

Why did Prophet ﷺ say that Allah is not one-eyed? Because, eventually ad-dajjaal will claim he is god. Prophet ﷺ is saying that he is not your God. This is a very important description of ad-dajjaal – he is one-eyed.

In a hadith by Bukhaari, Prophet ﷺ says that every prophet has warned his people from the one-eyed liar. He is one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. And between his eyes is written ‘kaafir.’

In another hadith in Muslim, Prophet ﷺ says that ‘kaafir’ is written between his eyes and it can be read by the literate and the illiterate. Therefore, it crosses the boundaries of language and literacy. If a person is a mu’min (believer), they will be able to recognize the sign, that this man is a disbeliever.

Now we are going to talk about a hadith in Muslim. These are not the words of Prophet ﷺ, but he approved of them.

Tamim ad-Daari, a Sahaabah of Prophet ﷺ, saw ad-Dajjaal. He said that we never saw a man that was bigger/larger than him. Ad-dajjaal is very huge.

Keep in mind that in the other hadith by Abu Dawood, it said that ad-Dajjaal was short. This can be problematic at time when we read about his description; it gets very confusing. The hadith of Prophet ﷺ are sufficient for us for when he does appear. We might not be able to have an exact perception of what he is now, but when he does come out, we’ll understand. Looking at these ahaadith, they may seem contradictory, but they are not; they are describing different things about ad-dajjaal.

Abu Sa’eed reported: I accompanied Ibn Sayyad to Mecca and he said to me: “What I have gathered from people is that they think that I am Dajjal. Have you not heard Prophet ﷺ as saying: ‘He will have no children?’” I said: “Yes, of course.” Thereupon he said: “But I have children. Have you not heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: ‘He would not enter Mecca and Medina?’” I said: “Yes, of course.” Thereupon he said, “I have been once in Medina and now I intend to go to Mecca.” And he said to me at the end of his talk: “By Allah: I know his place of birth his abode where he is just now.” He (Abu Sa’eed) said: “This caused confusion in my mind (in regard to his identity).” [Muslim, B.41, #6994] This is another description of ad-dajjaal – he will have no children.

1.2 Ad-Dajjaal: Alive?

Let’s ask a question: Is ad-Dajjaal alive now? Was he alive at the time of Prophet ﷺ; is he alive now? The answer is yes. He is alive. Where is he exactly? This is what we are going to talk about next.

Regarding a man called Ibn Sayyaad and whether or not he was actually ad-Dajjaal. Some companions swore by Allah that he was. Prophet ﷺ himself never said clearly whether Ibn Sayyaad was ad-Dajjaal or not. 

Fatima bint Qais says, [….] I heard the voice of an announcer making an announcement that the prayer would be observed in the mosque (where) congregational prayer (is observed).

So I set out towards that mosque and observed prayer along with Prophet ﷺ and I was in the row of the women which was near the row of men. When Prophet ﷺ had finished his prayer, he sat on the pulpit smiling and said: “Every worshipper should keep sitting at his place.” He then said: “Do you know why I had asked you to assemble?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.”

He said: “By Allah. I have not made you assemble for exhortation or for a warning, but I have detained you here, for Tamim Dari, a Christian, who came and accepted Islam, told me something, which agrees with what I was-telling, you about the Dajjal.

He narrated to me that he had sailed in a ship along with thirty men of Bani Lakhm and Bani Judham and had been tossed by waves in the ocean for a month. Then these (waves) took them (near) the land within the ocean (island) at the time of sunset. They sat in a small side-boat and entered that Island. There was a beast with long thick hair (and because of this) they could not distinguish his face from his back. They said: Woe to you, who can you be? Thereupon it said: I am al-Jassasa. They said: What is al-Jassasa? And it said: O people! Go to this person in the monastery as he is very much eager to know about you. He (the narrator) said: When it named a person for us we were afraid of it lest it should be a Devil.

Then we hurriedly went on till we came to that monastery and found a well-built person there with his hands tied to his neck and having iron shackles between his two legs up to the ankles. We said: Woe be upon thee, who are you? And he said: You would soon come to know about me. But tell me who are you. We said: We are people from Arabia and we embarked upon a boat but the sea-waves had been driving us for one month and they brought as near this island. We got into the side-boats and entered this island and here a beast met us with profusely thick hair and because of the thickness of his hair his face could not be distinguished from his back. We said: Woe be to thee, who are you? It said: I am al- Jassasa. We said: What is al-Jassasa? And it said: You go to this very person in the monastery for he is eagerly waiting for you to know about you. So we came to you in hot haste fearing that that might be the Devil.

He (that chained person) said: Tell me about the date-palm trees of Baisan. We said: About what aspect of theirs do you seek information? He said: I ask you whether these trees bear fruit or not. We said: Yes

Thereupon he said: I think these would not bear fruits. He said: Inform me about the lake of Tabariyya [a lake in Palestine] we said: Which aspect of it do you want to know? He said: Is there water in it? They said: There is abundance of water in it. Thereupon he said: I think it would soon become dry.

He again said: Inform me about the spring of Zughar. They said: Which aspect of it do you want to know? He (the chained person) said: Is there water in it and does it irrigate (the land)? We said to him: Yes, there is abundance of water in it and the inhabitants (of Medina) irrigate (land) with the help of it, He said: Inform me about the unlettered Prophet; what has he done? We said: He has come out from Mecca and has settled In Yathrib (Medina). He said: Do the Arabs fight against him? We said: Yes. He said: How did he deal with him? We informed him that he had overcome those in his neighbourhood and they had submitted themselves before him. Thereupon he said to us: Had it actually happened? We said: Yes.

Thereupon he said: If it is so that is better for them that they should show obedience to him. I am going to tell you about myself and I am Dajjal and would be soon permitted to get out and so I shall get out and travel in the land, and will not spare any town where I would not stay for forty nights except Mecca and Medina as these two (places) are prohibited (areas) for me and I would not make an attempt to enter any one of these two. An angel with a sword in his hand would confront me and would bar my way and there would be angels to guard every passage leading to it;” then Prophet ﷺ striking the pulpit with the help of the end of his staff said: “This implies Taiba meaning Medina. Have I not, told you an account (of the Dajjal) like this?”

The people said: “Yes, and this account narrated by Tamim Dari was liked by me for it corroborates the account which I gave to you in regard to him (Dajjal) at Medina and Mecca. Behold he (Dajjal) is in the Syrian sea (Mediterranian) or the Yemen sea (Red Sea orArabian sea). Nay, on the contrary, he is in the east, he is in the east, he is in the east,” and he pointed with his hand towards the east. I (Fatima bint Qais) said: I preserved It In my mind (this narration from Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him). [Muslim, B.41, #7028] Where exactly is east of Madinah? Only Allah knows.

We learn from this that ad-dajjaal is alive. He is going to travel all over the world in 40 days. He is going to conquer all of the world with the exception of Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem.

1.3 Where does Ad-Dajjaal Appear From?

There’s a hadth in At-Tirmidhi and Ahmad that the scholars have authenticated. Prophet ﷺ said that the Dajjaal will come out of a land in the east called Khurasaan. Allahu ‘Alam, is a place in Iran or Central Asia. There’s currently a state in Iran called Khurasaan.

Where will he Reach? & His Fitna

All over the world except Makkah and Madinah.

Prophet ﷺ said that nothing from the time Adam was created until akhirah is a greater fitna than ad-dajjaal.

Hudhaifa and Ibn Mas’ud met together. Hudhaifa said: I know more than you as to what there would be along with the Dajjal. There would be along with him two canals (one flowing with water) and the other one (having) fire (within it), and what you would see as fire would be water and what you would see as water would be fire. So he who amongst you is able to see that and is desirous of water should drink out of that which he sees as fire. [Muslim, B.41, #7013]

Prophet ﷺ said they would be two rivers. He says that one of the rivers has white water flowing and the other has fire. If you ever live to his time, close your eyes and throw yourself in the river of fire, for it is really cold water.

One day, Prophet ﷺ talked about the ad-dajjaal so much, we thought that he was just outside of Madinah. When we went to go meet Prophet ﷺ, he knew that. He felt that we were worried. Prophet ﷺ said, “What’s wrong with you?” They said, “You have talked about him so much – up and down- that he thought that he’s next to the palm trees of Madinah.” Prophet ﷺ said, “If he comes out and I am with you, then I’ll take care of him for you. If he comes out and I am not with you, then everybody is responsible for himself. And I ask Allah to protect every Muslim. He’s a young man and one of his eyes is bulging out. If you ever live to his time and see him, read on him the first ayah of surah al-Kahf.” That is the protection.

Abu Darda’ reported Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: “If anyone learns by heart the first ten verses of the Surah al-Kahf, he will be protected from the Dajjal.” [Muslim, B.4, #1766]

Prophet ﷺ said that he will come out between ash-Shaam and Iraq, and he will corrupt the whole world, right and left. Then Prophet ﷺ said, he will stay on earth for 40 days. One day is like a year; one day is like a month; one day is like a week and then the rest of his days are like your regular days.

Prophet ﷺ said…. “He would appear on the way between Syria and Iraq and would spread mischief right and left. O servant of Allah! Adhere (to the path of Truth).” We said: “Allah’s Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth?” He said, “For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your days.” [SubhanAllah. Look at what the Sahabah ask next – Prophet ﷺ is talking about ad-dajjaal; look at their concern for Salah!] We said: “Allah’s Messenger, would one day’s prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year?” Thereupon he said: “No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer).” We said: “Allah’s Messenger, how quickly would he walk upon the earth?” Thereupon he said: “Like cloud driven by the wind. [This is an expression that means he would travel very fast.]

  • “He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him.
  • He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops.
  • Then in the evening, their posturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched.
  • He would then come to another people and invite them. [Ad-dajjaal would have control over these worldly things, and people love the world, so that is the gate through which ad-dajjaal will come through; that is how he will deceive people.] But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth.

I felt that this commentary really hit home; major eye opener: We should never underestimate the fitna of ad-dajjaal. The only way we would be able to recognize it is if we think about it in our terms. Think about salat ul-jama’ah (prayer in congregation). We miss a lot of them. Imagine if you got $50 for every salah you came to. Would the $50 attract you to the masjid or not? Here, we’re talking about only $50; ad-dajjaal will have the gold and silver of the world. If you follow him, he’ll give everything you want. If you don’t, he’ll take it from you. What is keeping us from jama’ah? It is the dunya. Allahu ‘Alam, it may be minimum wage, or even 10 or 20. If that small amount is sufficient to take us away from ibaadah, think about the time of ad-dajjaal. Ad-dajjaal will attract all of the ignorant and the ones with weak faith.

Allah’s Apostle told us a long narrative about Ad-Dajjal, and among the many things he mentioned, was his saying, “Ad-Dajjal will come and it will be forbidden for him to pass through the entrances of Medina. He will land in some of the salty barren areas outside Medina; on that day the best man or one of the best men will come up to him and say, ‘I testify that you are the same Dajjal whose description was given to us by Allah’s Apostle.’ Ad-Dajjal will say to the people, ‘If I kill this man and bring him back to life again, will you doubt my claim?’ They will say, ‘No.’ Then Ad-Dajjal will kill that man and bring him back to life. That man will say, ‘Now I know your reality better than before.’ [This has only made me more assured that you are ad-dajjaal.] Ad-Dajjal will say, ‘I want to kill him but I cannot.’” [Ad-dajjaal will try to kill him but will not be able to.] [Bukhaari 3/30/106]

This hadith is in Ibn Majah. Ad-dajjaal will bring a simple Bedouin, and he will tell him, “If I resurrect your father and mother, will you believe in me?” The Bedouin will say, “Yes.” Two devils will assume the personality and form of his father and mother. They will say to him, “O my son, follow him. He is your Lord!” Look at this fitna. What appears to be his father and mother are going to come and tell their son this! This is a great fitna.

1.4 How to Protect Yourself from Ad-dajjaal

  1. Imaan – don’t wait until ad-dajjaal comes to build your imaan. Because you will not be able to. One hadith that when three things appear and a person doesn’t have imaan, then no imaan would do them any good after that. One of those things is ad-dajjaal. Imaan needs to be prepared prior to ad-dajjaal.
  2. Al Isti’aadah – Seek refuge in Allah from him. One of the du’aa that Prophet ﷺ would say after Salah very frequently, that some scholars even say it is waajib: ‘O Allaah, I take refuge in You from the punishment of the grave, from the torment of the Fire, from the trials and tribulations of life and death and from the evil affliction of the Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal.’ (Du’aa` at end of Tashahud)
  3.  Read the opening of Surah al-Kahf or the last part of Surah al-Kahf. The hadith has been mentioned before. Why do you think the opening of al-Kahf? Allahu ‘Alam, one of the reasons the speaker thinks is because it talks about the story of the people of the cave. They left the fitna, they didn’t confront it. As Muslims, we are ordered to confront evil. The people of the cave left their society because the fitna/evil was too huge. If the evil is too great, you have to protect yourself first. The king and everyone were non believers and weren’t accepting da’wah. Look at the similarities. Prophet ﷺ says that if ever any of you lives during the time of ad-dajjal, never go to meet him. Because, you going and meeting him, thinking you are a believer, may leave the meeting a non believer, because of the doubts that he puts in your hearts. The people are going to run from him from the tops of mountains. The whole world will be with ad-dajjaal. You may say, what about the young man who will confront him? That is an exalted example. Not everyone has this type of imaan. Prophet ﷺ said that he is THE BEST of his time. If you fear for your safety, leave. In another hadith, the ayahs of the end of al-kahf are mentioned.
  4.   Avoiding him. Prophet ﷺ said: “Let him who hears of the Dajjal (Antichrist) go far from him for I swear by Allah that a man will come to him thinking he is a believer and follow him because of confused ideas roused in him by him. [Abu Dawood B.37, #4305]

1.5 Death of ad-Dajjaal

Even though ad-dajjaal has all of this fitna, no matter how long a lie continues, it cannot last forever. Ad-dajjaal is all about lying and deception and his deception will carry him, but only so far, then he will collapse. In the end, he will collapse, and that will be the end of him. He will not collapse until he has caused damage all over the world, so much so that almost the entire world will be following him. He will be unstoppable. No one will be able to fight him. AlMehdi will have no way of competing with him. He will be with the believers in Jerusalem, hiding with them in their forts.

There will be no way for them to confront ad-dajjaal, until ‘Eesa ibn Maryam (Jesus, son of Mary), descends. Then ‘Eesa ibn Maryam, just like Allah has given ad-dajjaal these supernatural abilities, Allah will give ‘Eesa a miracle and that is: he will have the power of killing ad-dajjaal by his vision. In one hadith, his vision, and in another, his breath. The vision and breath of ‘Eesa will be enough to make ad-dajjaal melt like a piece of ice melts. And that is a miracle that Allah subhaana wa ta’aala will give ‘Eesa.

In a hadith by Muslim: The Dajjal would appear in my Ummah and he would stay (in the world) for forty-I cannot say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years. And Allah would then send Jesus son of Mary who would resemble ‘Urwah ibn Mas’ud. He (Jesus Christ) would chase him and kill him. [part of hadith Muslim, B.41, #7023]

In a hadith narrated by Ahmad, ‘Eesa ibn Maryam will kill ad-dajjaal at Baab-lud – and this is in Palestine.

2: The Descending of ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam

2.1 Location of Descending

The second sign, in terms of order, is the descending of ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam. The location of the descending will be Damascus. RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam pinpointed Damascus and said, next to the eastern white minaret. At the time, when Prophet ﷺ said this, there wasn’t any masjid in Damascus; it was part of the Roman Empire; it was Christian. Nevertheless, Prophet ﷺ said he [‘Eesa] will descend next to the eastern white minaret in Damascus.

 AlMasjid AlAmawi is the biggest of the masaajid of Damascus. It was a very important masjid in the history of the Muslim world, because the capital of the khilaafa moved to Damascus for quite awhile – about 100 years. The grand masjid was what we now call the Amawi masjid. The colour of the masjid wasn’t white. Ibn Katheer says that a few centuries later, the minarets of the masjid were rebuilt and the money that was used in rebuilding them was Christian money. Allahu Alam, Ibn Katheer didn’t say why, but he says that it was the Christians who paid for the renovation of the minarets. And in this renovation, the colour was made white. The minaret is still white. When it was first built, it wasn’t white, but it is white now – it is white marble. SubhanAllah Ibn Katheer says it is a miracle that Christians are the ones who financed and paid for the renovation of the masjid where ‘Eesa [Jesus] will descend.

By the way, there’s another amazing example here of colours. Masjid AnNabawi was first built from mud/clay, so it was beige or brown. It remained that way until it was renovated during the time of ‘Uthmaan, and then throughout Muslim history it was renovated. It never carried the colour white until the latest renovation that happened under the Saudi regime. They made the minarets white marble. It’s different colours, but it looks quite white in Madinah. I don’t think that this hadith was kept in mind when the renovation was done – engineers did it – and the intention was to make it look good. But there is a hadith of Prophet ﷺ that ad-Dajjaal would stand over the mountain of Uhud and he will tell his army, “Do you see that white palace? That is the palace of Muhammad.” And he will point towards Masjid AnNabawi.

2.2 An Article of Faith

The evidence of the descending of ‘Eesa is mutawaatir. Mutawaatir means frequently narrated and leaves no doubt in mind. Mowdoo’ is fabricated and da’eef is weak narration. The higher degree is Hasan (agreeable). The higher degree is Sahih (which is authentic.) And the strongest type of Sahih is mutawaatir.

Mutawaatir is something that came from so many directions that it is impossible for it to have any doubt. The descending of ‘Eesa – Jesus, son of Mary – is certain knowledge for Muslims. Meaning, we don’t say, “There’s a 60 or 70 percent chance.” It is an article of faith for us to believe that ‘Eesa will descend. There is not a difference of opinion. It is CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE according to some ayaat of Qur’aan and an abundance of Hadith.

The ayaat do not explicitly mention his name, but the meaning of the ayah is talking about ‘Eesa. One  example:

“He [‘Eesa] is the knowledge of the Hour…” (43:61)

In another Hadeeth, “And he [‘Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)] shall be a known sign for (the coming of) the Hour (Day of Resurrection) [i.e. ‘Iesa’s (Jesus) descent on the earth]…” So in another variant reading, ‘Eesa’s descending on earth is a sign of the day of judgment.

In an authentic narration in Musnad Imam Ahmad, Ibn Abbaas says in the tafsir of this ayah: “This ayah is talking about the descending of ‘Eesa, son of Mary (Maryam) before the day of judgment.”

There’s another ayah in the Qur’aan: And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him [‘Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), as only a Messenger of Allah and a human being], before his [‘Eesa (Jesus) or a Jew’s or a Christian’s] death (at the time of the appearance of the angel of death). And on the Day of Resurrection, he [‘Eesa (Jesus)] will be a witness over them (4:159)

Ibn Jarir AtTabari has a chain of narration that goes all the way to Ibn Abbaas. Ibn Abbaas says, in the tafsir of this ayah, that the people of the book will believe before his death, before the death of ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam. AlHasan AlBasri says, this is before the death of ‘Eesa. In the name of Allah, he is now alive and then he will descend. When he descends, all of them will believe in them.

Then Prophet ﷺ says that money will be widespread. People will pass next to it and not take anything. People will be very content. Also, it is so close to the Day of Judgment that this money doesn’t hold the value to them. That is why, “one sajdah to them will be more valuable than the world and everything in it.”

2.3 When He Descends

Prophet ﷺ says in another hadith, In Bukari and Muslim, “What will your situation be when the son of Mary will descend amongst you and your Imam is from within yourselves?” Because when ‘Eesa arrives, he will walk in and the Muslims are about to pray – the ‘iqaamah was made in the masjid. When AlMehdi sees ‘Eesa, he will retreat and he will ask him (‘Eesa) to lead the prayer. But ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam will tell AlMehdi that the ‘iqaamah was made for you, therefore you lead the salah. This is a great honor for this Ummah – that ‘Eesa will pray behind one of the followers of Prophet ﷺ. Obviously, after that ‘Eesa will resume the responsibility, but at that time AlMehdi will led because the ‘iqaamah was made for him. Ibn Katheer says that these hadith are mutawaatir.

This hadith is in AtTirmidhi. Prophet ﷺ says ‘Eesa ibn Maryam would descend next to the eastern white minaret of the masjid. He has two yellow garments, and he will be placing his two hands on the wings of angels. That is how he will come down – placing his hands on the wings of two angels.

2.4 Which Law Would He Apply?

When ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam assumes the leadership amongst Muslims, what law would he apply? Because when ‘Eesa was sent to Bani Israel, he followed the Law of Moses (Musa) – the Torah. ‘Eesa would apply the law of Prophet ﷺ. All of it is Islaam – the message of Musa, ‘Eesa and Muhammad. There were differences in particular details of the law, appropriate for their people. When ‘Eesa descends, he will follow the law of Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This is also an honor for Prophet ﷺ that ‘Eesa would follow his law.

Prophet ﷺ said in another hadith to ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab that if Musa was alive today, he would have to follow me.

How would that happen? AlQurtubi says that Allah will teach ‘Eesa, in the heavens, the law of Muhammad ﷺ, the law of Qur’aan.

You might say that part of the law if jizya, why won’t he accept that anymore? The answer to that is that Prophet ﷺ said that jizya would continue until the time of ‘Eesa; after ‘Eesa there will be no more jizya. Prophet ﷺ stated that the law of jizya only applies till the time of ‘Eesa.

When ‘Eesa descends on earth, he will perform Hajj with the Muslims. Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith narrated by Muslim: “By Him in Whose Hand is my life. Ibn Maryam (Jesus Christ) would certainly pronounce Talbiya for Hajj or for Umra or for both (simultaneously as a Qiran) in the valley of Rauha.” [Muslim, B.7, #2877]

In another hadith by Imam Ahmad, “The Prophets are half brothers. Their religion is one, but their mothers are different.” In other words, all of the prophets are brothers, even though their law is different. The religion is the same and they are brothers. “And ‘Eesa is the closest one to me because there is no prophet between me and him. And he would descend. When he comes down, know him. He is average height and he has fair skin and he will be wrapped in two garments which have a yellowish colour. His hair looks as if it is wet and dripping with droplets of water, even though it’s dry.” Sometimes people have such beautiful hair – it might be so dark and black – that it looks wet.

In the time of Islam, all of the religions will disappear except Islam. This will only happen during the time of Islam. Another honor to ‘Eesa ‘alayhis salaam is that during his time, ad-dajjaal will be eliminated, and peace would descend on earth. Peace isn’t hanging up there – it will be with the people.

Prophet ﷺ said, lions would accompany camels and tigers would accompany cows and wolves would accompany goats and children would play with snakes. There would be so much peace on earth; no one wants to harm anyone.

Prophet ﷺ says, he would stay for 40 years and then he would die and the Muslims would pray on him. He has to come down to earth, because Allah created us from this earth. We would live on this earth and die on this earth. ‘Eesa [Jesus] did not die yet. Allah would bring him down to achieve the final victory of Islam. SubhanAllah, this is a blessed Ummah – it begins with a prophet and ends with a prophet.

Prophet ﷺ says in the hadith that he would stay for 40 years, but in another hadith it says that he would stay for 7 years. Both hadith are authentic and in Muslim. The scholars found a way to explain this. 40 years is his total time on earth. He already lived 33 years on earth and he has 7 years left in his life, and he will spend the 7 years with this Ummah.

Prophet ﷺ says, during those 7 years, there will be 7 years when no two people will have any animosity between each other. There will be so much peace during that time. And then, [Prophet ﷺ says] a wind would blow from Ash-Shaam and it would take the soul of every believer. Even the ones with a single grain of imaan in his heart will die. That is the end of the story of this world. It started with Adam and ends with Islam.

Prophet ﷺ says, “There will be so much blessing that if you throw a seed and throw them on a solid rock, it will grow.” And then that’s the end.

The souls of the believers will be taken away. Following that, the munafiqeen and the worst of people will remain. Prophet ﷺ says they would be corrupt and would have intercourse amongst each other like donkeys – like animals. Prophet ﷺ says, these are the ones whom the Hour would occur on. Allahu Alam, that would continue for 40 years. There would be perversion and corruption and all types of evil.

3. Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj [Gog and Magog]

Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj [Gog and Magog] are two tribes. Are they human beings, or are they a different creation? Are they sons of Adam? They are definitely sons of Adam. The evidence is in Bukhaari:

The Prophet ﷺ said, “On the day of Resurrection Allah will say, ‘O Adam!’ Adam will reply, ‘Labbaik our Lord, and Sa’daik.’ Then there will be a loud call (saying), Allah orders you to take from among your offspring a mission for the (Hell) Fire.’ Adam will say, ‘O Lord! Who are the mission for the (Hell) Fire?’ Allah will say, ‘Out of each thousand, take out 999.’ At that time every pregnant female shall drop her load (have a miscarriage) and a child will have grey hair. And you shall see mankind as in a drunken state, yet not drunk, but severe will be the torment of Allah.” (22.2) (When the Prophet mentioned this), the people were so distressed (and afraid) that their faces got changed (in colour) whereupon the Prophet ﷺ said, “From Gog and Magog nine-hundred ninety-nine will be taken out and one from you. You Muslims (compared to the large number of other people) will be like a black hair on the side of a white ox, or a white hair on the side of a black ox, and I hope that you will be one-fourth of the people of Paradise.” On that, we said, “Allahu-Akbar!” Then he said, “I hope that you will be) one-third of the people of Paradise.” We again said, “Allahu-Akbar!” Then he said, “(I hope that you will be) one-half of the people of Paradise.” So we said, “Allahu Akbar.”[Bukhaari, 6/60/265]

Ya’juj and Ma’juj multiply so much that there is a narration that when one of them dies, they leave behind 1,000 descendents. This is a narration and it could be weak. Anyways, they multiply so much. Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an: “And when ya’juj and ma’juj come out, they would pour from every direction.” Their numbers are huge.

Some other hadith that talk about ya’juj and ma’juj:

[…] He [‘Eesa] would then search for him (Dajjal) until he would catch hold of him at the gate of Ludd and would kill him. Then a people whom Allah had protected would come to Jesus, son of Mary, and he would wipe their faces and would inform them of their ranks in Paradise and it would be under such conditions that Allah would reveal to Jesus these words:

“I have brought forth from amongst My servants such people against whom none would be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur”, and then Allah would send Gog and Magog and they would swarm down from every slope. The first of them would pass the lake of Tibering and drink out of it. And when the last of them would pass, he would say: “There was once water there.”

Jesus and his companions would then be besieged here (at Tur, and they would be so much hard pressed) that the head of the ox would be dearer to them than one hundred dinirs and Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate Allah, Who would send to them insects (which would attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then again beseech Allah, Who would send birds whose necks would be like those of bactrin camels and they would carry them and throw them where God would will.

Allah subhaana wa ta’aala would send worms upon ya’juj and ma’juj and it would enter their necks and kill them. It would be an epidemic. These two tribes would be exterminated. This does not solve the problem, however. ‘Eesa and his followers would come out from Jerusalem, but there isn’t a spot on the earth that isn’t covered with the decomposed bodies of ya’juj and ma’juj. ‘Eesa and the Muslims would make du’aa` to Allah again.

Then Allah would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels’ hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. … [Muslim B.41, #7015]

Qur’an tells us the story of dhul-Qarnayn. He was a king who lived thousands of years ago. He is not even in the books of history. These are very early times. Dhul Qarnayn is a king who ruled the inhabited part of the world at that time; that is how he has that name. Dhul Qarnayn means “two horns” and some mufassireen say that means he rules the east and the west. Allah tells us the story in the Qur’aan of when he visited three places: the east, the west, and an area between two mountains.

    Until, when he reached between two mountains, he found, before (near) them (those two mountains), a people who scarcely understood a word. They said: “O Dhul-Qarnain! Verily! Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?” He said: “That (wealth, authority and power) in which my Lord had established me is better (than your tribute). So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier. Give me pieces (blocks) of iron,” Then, when he had filled up the gap between the two mountain-cliffs, he said: “Blow,” till when he had made it (red as) fire, he said: “Bring me molten copper to pour over it.” So they [Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog)] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. Dhul-Qarnain) said: “This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever true.” And on that Day [i.e. the Day Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog) will come out], We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another, and the Trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together. [18:93-99]

Some of the commentary on this ayah: (About the material poured on top of the damn/barrier). He poured on it Qitra. Now qitra is explained as either lead or copper. If you mix steel with lead or copper, you get either brass or bronze and both of them are better than if he left it as steel alone.

Allah says that he didn’t only build the sadd (damn), but he build radam – something that seals off completely. A sadd is a horizontal barrier, so they could climb over. The people asked Dhul Qarnayn to build a sadd. Dhul Qarnayn went further – he did ihsaan (perfection). He built a radam that sealed them off completely. Therefore, we cannot really see them now. They are sealed off somewhere underground. They are somewhere in the east because RasulAllah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam told us. Dhul Qarnayn did such a good job.

Dhul Qarnayn says that even though it was the best he could do, one day they would be torn down.

Continue with the hadith: Prophet ﷺ says that every day ya’juj and ma’juj are piercing through this barrier. One night, when they have just a little bit left, their leader would say, “Let’s come back and finish it tomorrow.” They will come back to find out that it has been sealed again. So they will come back and dig it all the way until they’re almost there. They leave. The come the next day and they’ll find it sealed as if it’s new. Prophet ﷺ says, until when their term is appointed. They would dig through it and their leader would say, “Tomorrow we’re going to come back and inshaAllah we’re going to complete digging it.” So they will say inshaAllah and they will open up the seal the next day and come out.

During the time of Prophet ﷺ, a small opening occured in that seal. Because Prophet ﷺ was smiling and suddenly his face changed. He said, “Today an opening was made in the seal of ya’juj and ma’juj.” Therefore, there’s already a small opening. One day, they will open it completely.

Prophet ﷺ says, they will come out and drink the water of the earth. People will run away from them. Then, when ya’juj and ma’juj think that they have killed everyone, they would point their weapons towards the sky and they would shoot. Their arrows would come back with blood on them and they would say, “We have killed everyone on earth and now we have killed everyone in the heavens.” Look at their arrogance! Then Allah subhaana wa ta’aala would send on them worms that would kill them all. Prophet ﷺ says, the animals of the earth would eat so much from their bodies that they would be fat and grateful.

In terms of ya’juj and ma’juj’s location – we don’t know where they are. They are not any population on earth and they are people we do not know of. People like to label certain peoples as ya’juj and ma’juj.

Ya’juj and ma’juj are also known amongst the people of the book – they are called gog and magog. There have been non Muslims who also labelled Muslims as gog and magog and vice versa. This is not correct.

There is a hadith in Muslim which says that after Ya`juj and Ma`juj: […]Then Allah would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels’ hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. [Allahu Alam this could mean that there would be so much water that it looks like a mirror or the earth would become so clean and as transparent as a mirror.]

Then [Allah would give order to] the earth would be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing [The blessings are on earth, but we are the reason they don’t appear. Allah says that corruption appeared on earth – why? Because of what the hands of people have reaped.]  and, as a result thereof,

  • There would grow such a big pomegranate that a group of persons would be able to eat that, and seek shelter under its skin and
  • A cow would give so much milk that a whole party would be able to drink it.
  • And the camel would give such a large quantity of milk that the whole tribe would be able to drink out of that and the sheep would give so much milk that the whole family would be able to drink out of that and
  • At that time Allah would send a pleasant wind which would soothe people even under their armpits, and would take the life of every Muslim and only the wicked would survive who would commit adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come to them. [Muslim B.41, #7015]

4.5.6 Three Sinking of the Earth

The sinking of the earth could be an earthquake that is so violent that part of the earth is swallowed. In this hadith in Muslim, which mentions the ten signs of the Day of Judgment,

Prophet ﷺ says, “Three sinkings of the earth. One in the east, one in the west and one in the Arabian Peninsula.”

These are major earthquakes. It could take entire parts of the world off of the face of the earth. For example, the continental divide is a very dangerous/unstable place. These events don’t just happen like that, like most people think. They are predestined by Allah. Allah is testing the people; it is punishment for their sins.

Once there was an earthquake in Madinah. Then there was a second and third. They were very small earthquakes. ’Umar ibn AlKhattab stood on the mimbar and said to the people of Madinah, “Either you stop sinning or I will leave Madinah.” ‘Umar understood that this was because of the sins of the people. If it happened now, people would say that the second and third were aftershocks. ‘Umar was saying it was because of their sins. Once the mountain of Uhud shook, Prophet ﷺ said, “Don’t move because on top of you is a nabiy, a siddiq and two shuhadaa`.”

7. The Smoke

There is an entire surah in the Qur’an – Surah ad-Dukhaan. Allah says: “Wait until smoke comes down from the heavens.” This smoke is punishment for the non believers. We don’t know more about the smoke. It will come down on the earth as a punishment for the non believers.

8. Rise of the Sun from the West

Allah says, “When some of the signs of Allah approach, then a soul that did not believe, their belief will not do them any good.” The tafsir of this ayah is the rise of the sun from the west.

    Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come (i.e. portents of the Hour e.g., arising of the sun from the west)! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say: “Wait you! We (too) are waiting.”

Prophet ﷺ says, the Day of Judgment will not occur until the sun rises up from the west. When that happens, everyone would believe. That is when belief would not give them any good.  [Bukhaari]

If someone becomes a Muslim in that moment, their imaan will not do any good. That means, if someone who claims to be a believer but was not doing good, their good will not do them any good after the sun rises from the west. Therefore, after the sun rises from the west, your record of deeds will remain the same. If you were doing righteous deeds, the reward of those deeds would continue even if the sun rises from the west.

AlQurtubi explains this. He says that when the sun rises from the west, people would know it is the end. Therefore, it is just like death. When people are dying and they see the angel of death – can they make tawbah (repentence)? It is too late, the same thing here. When the sun rises from the west, people will know it is the end of the world. The door of tawbah is closed. No more tawbah will be accepted.

9. The Beast

Allah says: “And when the decree of Allah (or the Word of Allah) befalls them, we would send out to them a beast from the earth. It would talk to them. The people do not believe in Our signs.” Tukallimuhum can be explained as talk to them or mark them. Ibn Abbaas says that both meanings are correct. This beast would come out and talk to people: “You are a believer” “You are a nonbeliever” and it would stamp them.

What does it mean ‘the word of Allah would befall them’? AlQurtubi says, “The word of Allah befallas them means it is time for the punishment of Allah. Because of their extremism in corruption and evil and arrogance, and because they ignored the Signs of Allah and did not contemplate in them.”

Ibn Mas’ood says, “The word of Allah comes on them is when the scholars die and the knowledge dies and the Qur’an is lifted.”

Abu Hurayrah says that Prophet ﷺ says, “Three things, when they occur, no soul would benefit from imaan after that.

  1. Rise of the sun from the west.
  2. Ad-dajjaal.
  3. The beast.” During the time of ad-dajjaal, because there will be so much fitna. In the time of the beast, you will be stamped as a believer or a non believer.

There are more details in the following hadith, which can be found in Ahmad and AtTirmidhi, Prophet ﷺ said, “The beast would come out carrying the seal of Sulayman [Solomon] and the stick of Musa [Moses]. It would mark the face of the believer with Musa and would stamp the face of the nonbeliever with the seal of Sulayman. People would be eating together and they would say, ‘Give me this, believer’ or ‘Hand me this non-believer.’” Everybody has it written on their face. People would call each other, “ya kaafir” or “ya mu’min.”

Shaykh Ahmad Shaakir says that the hadith is authentic. Shaykh Albaani says that the hadith is da’eef because Albaani considers one of the narrators of the hadith to be weak, but Shaakir considers him to be strong and he says that AtTirmidhi and Ahmad have narrated from this man. Wallahu ‘Alam.

10. The Fire

The final sign of the Day of Judgment is the fire. Prophet ﷺ says, “And in the end, a fire would come out from Yemen, sending the people towards almahshar.” This is a fire that will push all of the people towards the holy land. This fire will continuously follow them until they go to almahshar. People will be running from it. Whoever is left behind, it will burn them. It follows them day and night. It will come out from Yemen.

Prophet ﷺ pinpointed the area and said it will come from the basin of ‘Adan. ‘Adan is laying in a crater of a volcano. There are many craters of volcanoes in ‘Adan. ‘Adan is a city of Yemen on the sea. There are a lot of craters in it.

AlMahshar is in shaam. Prophet ﷺ pointed towards ashShaam and said, “This is where you would be assembled.” In another hadith in Abu Dawood, Prophet ﷺ said, “There will be hijra after hijra. The best of people of the world will be in the place of the hijra of Ibraheem.” Where is that? Jerusalem, the holy land. What is the first hijra? From Makkah to Madinah. There will be another hijra, which is of the best people of the world, to Jerusalem. The other people who live during that time will be the worse of the people, and that is when the fire will gather them in AshShaam.

AshShaam is the area of Jerusalem, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. The most holy of it is Jerusalem. There are many ahaadith where Prophet ﷺ praised that place.

In one hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmad, Abu Dardaa` reports that Prophet ﷺ says, “I was sleeping and I saw a dream where the pillar of the Book [Qur’an] was taken away from me. And i thought it would be taken away from me. So I followed it and saw it placed in AshShaam. In the time of trials and tribulations (fitan), that is where Imaan will be.”

In another hadith in Tabarani, Prophet ﷺ says, “When I was in the trip of al Israa`, I saw a white pillar like a banner of war taken away from me and I asked the angels, ‘Where are you taking it?’ They said, ‘We are going to take it and place it in AshShaam.’”

Is this assembly of people in AshShaam the assembly of the day of judgment or is it a different assembly? Most of the scholars, however, say that there are two assemblies: one that will be in this dunya and then the assembly in akhirah. They say that this assembly is in dunya. The people will be assembled in ashShaam, then that will be the end of the world. Then the people will be assembled in the akhirah. They use the ayah as proof: “When the earth will be replaced.” On the Day of Judgment, the earth and sun and everything will be replaced.

This is the end of the signs of the Day of Judgment.